§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the cost in 2001–02 is of the facility which enables e-mail applications to be made to Preston county court. [14980]
§ Mr. WillsThe cost of the Preston e-mail application service in 2001–02 is nominal as the initial outlay for equipment and installation was met in 2000–01. In 2000–01 the costs were £72,495, of which £65,243 were the costs of the computers and the e-mail connection; the balance related to various project related costs.
The on-going running costs of this project include line charges for the e-mail modem, and staff and project management costs which are included in the court's overall running costs. The e-mail service allows the court to process applications by solicitors more efficiently than the paper based service, and therefore is delivering some efficiency savings, although these have yet to be quantified.